Posted on by Dustin Albino

LEBANON, Tenn. — Before last weekend’s Coca-Cola 600, Tyler Reddick stated the No. 45 team needed a reset. Then, he nearly went out and put the full marathon together, only for it to go awry during the final stint. 

That’s the story of Reddick’s 2025 season just past the one-third mark. 

The defending regular-season champion sits fifth in the regular-season championship battle at the halfway point. But digging deeper into the statistics, he’s not far behind his pace from 2024, and is actually one position higher in the standings. The primary difference is he’s 17 points further behind the lead this year (minus-107 compared to minus-90 last year).

Coming off a Championship 4 appearance, expectations were naturally higher after scoring 23XI Racing’s first three-win season.

RELATED: Nashville starting lineup | Best photos from Nashville

“The rapid increase in performance that 23XI has had ever since I joined the team, at some point that inevitably is going to taper off some,” Reddick said on Saturday at Nashville Superspeedway. “You never want to get to the point where you’re going back down the mountain, but the closer you get to the top of that mountain, the harder it gets to continue to find speed. It seems like more now it’s a matter of finding consistency.” 

Consistency, indeed. The No. 45 team is tied with its 23XI teammate Bubba Wallace for the fourth-most stage points in the series, sitting right at the century mark. They trail only William Byron (137), Kyle Larson (128) and Ryan Blaney (110). 

The glaring weakness has been the final stage. Reddick has a mere four top-10 finishes, down from seven last year at this time. Since the fourth race of the season at Phoenix Raceway, the No. 45 team has only two finishes better than 14th. Four of the last five races have been 18th or worse at the checkered flag. 

Yet Reddick isn’t concerned with the potential of the No. 45 team. He believes his team should be graded on performance, rather than results.

“It’s more a matter of what’s our capability and performance is like,” Reddick added. “Last weekend (at Charlotte), it was really good. We’ve been a little bit more hit or miss compared to last year. The finishes will come with the more consistent performance. 

“At the end of the year, you look back and see the results of every given weekend. For me, it’s more about the performance that we bring to the race track and that won’t always be reflected in the finishing results.” 

Denny Hamlin, co-owner of 23XI Racing, still thinks the No. 45 team needs a larger sample size from the reset to see an improvement. He was pleased last week.  

“It’s going to take a little time with them,” Hamlin stated. “I like the speed that they’ve had over the last two weeks. Their race pace at [North] Wilkesboro wasn’t what I expected; it was about what I expected at Charlotte out of them. Execution is going to be the key with them. I think they have reset and we’re coming into the weekends now with that reset mind and we’ll see where they go with it.”

It was about this time last year that the No. 45 soared. Over the final 13 races of the 2024 season, Reddick had 11 top-10 finishes, with seven of those cracking the top five. The high point was winning at Michigan International Speedway, where he enters next weekend’s event as the defending winner. 

Reddick was the fastest driver in Nashville during Saturday’s practice session on single-lap and 10-lap averages. He qualified fourth for Sunday’s Cracker Barrel 400 (7 p.m. ET, Prime Video, PRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio), slotting in third of the Toyota drivers.

The California native also had a surprise to share this weekend, announcing Sunday the birth of his second child, Rookie George Reddick.

Posted on by Holly Cain

Chase Briscoe claimed the Busch Light Pole Award for the second consecutive week and third time of the season Saturday, besting his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate, Denny Hamlin, by only 0.049 seconds in qualifying to earn the top starting position for Sunday’s Cracker Barrel 400 at Nashville Superspeedway (7 p.m. ET, Prime Video, PRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

Briscoe was among the very last to take to the 1.33-mile concrete oval, turning in a track record lap of 164.395 mph in the No. 19 JGR Toyota. He and Hamlin — a two-time Nashville pole winner — will lead the field to green with current NASCAR Cup Series championship leader, Hendrick Motorsports’ William Byron in the No. 24 Chevrolet and 23XI Racing’s Tyler Reddick in the No. 45 Toyota, a row behind.

RELATED: Starting lineup | At-track photos: Nashville

“I guess I just pushed my head farther forward as I was coming to the line,’’ Briscoe joked of the tight margin between the teammates to decide pole position.

“Honestly, I thought I ran a decent lap. Just a smooth lap and sometimes that’s what it takes. Obviously, a good Saturday for our Bass Pro Shops Toyota, and obviously, two weeks in a row we’ve been able to do that now, which is nice. Just need to put a Sunday together now.

“Track position is going to be really, really big here tomorrow and that’s the name of the game most every place we go, certainly at this place. So hopefully we can maintain track position and keep it up front all day long.’’

Hamlin agreed about the significance of a good starting position.

“Certainly going to be a track position-type race, and with very minimum [tire] falloff, even in practice I kept having to back up from the guys that I was catching,’’ said Hamlin, driver of the No. 11 JGR Toyota. “Obviously, great job for our Progressive Toyota team to get us a good starting spot and pit stall.

“I would have loved to have number one, but Chase just ruined that,’’ he added, smiling. “Really happy for the whole Joe Gibbs Racing team to get the whole front row there. I definitely think we can race from that spot.’’

Reddick held the number one position on the speed chart for much of qualifying, only to be bested later by his team co-owner Hamlin, Briscoe, and Byron late in the session. Last year’s regular season champion Reddick was fastest in practice in both single-lap speed and 10-lap average speed.

Last week’s Charlotte race winner Ross Chastain — the 2023 Nashville winner — was fifth fastest in the No. 1 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet, followed by RFK Racing owner and driver Brad Keselowski, who set the fastest time among the Fords, who is eager for execution to start matching the potential.

Joe Gibbs Racing’s Christopher Bell, Spire Motorsports’ Michael McDowell, Team Penske’s Joey Logano and RFK’s Christopher Buescher rounded out the top 10 in qualifying.

Former race winner (2021) Kyle Larson will start 28th and his Hendrick teammate Chase Elliott, the 2022 Nashville winner, will roll off 11th.

Reddick paces the field in practice

Cup Series drivers started Saturday with practice split into two 25-minute group sessions. Carson Hocevar led Group 1 with a speed of 160.338 mph while Tyler Reddick led a rapid Group 2 at 161.337 mph.

The top 10 overall were Reddick, Hamlin, Chase Elliott, Byron, Briscoe, Keselowski, Chastain, Hocevar, Bubba Wallace and McDowell.

MORE: Practice results | Busch, Berry go for a spin

Reddick led both groups overall in consecutive 10-lap averages. Hamlin, Chastain, Briscoe and Keselowski completed the top five there.

In Group 2, Kyle Busch got loose and slid while exiting Turn 4 and managed to avoid any damage, which brought out the first caution flag of the session. Moments later, Josh Berry had a similar incident while going over the bumps in the final turn, but managed to escape unscathed.

Contributing: Staff Report

Posted on by Holly Cain

Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing owner and driver Brad Keselowski is fresh off his best finish of the year in the No. 6 Ford Mustang — a fifth-place run at Charlotte, where his five laps out front marked the first laps he’s led this season.

Amazingly, the effort was the 2012 NASCAR Cup Series champion’s best work since an 11th-place showing at Las Vegas in March. While he didn’t celebrate in Victory Lane, he got a lot closer and that is something he hopes his team can build off.

“Just trying not to do too much, we’re hitting our stride as an organization, particularly with the six-team,” said Keselowski, who is ranked 32nd in the championship standings and hoping to earn a playoff berth with a victory. His last win came at Darlington Raceway last spring.

MORE: Cup Series standings | Nashville weekend schedule

“The cars are developing more speed. Our execution’s getting better. It’s an exciting time for us outside of looking where we are in the points standings. We need to build off of that and incrementally inch our way toward being able to win and I think we’re really close to that right now.

“Last week was a really positive moment for us. The last run of the race, we passed at least a half dozen cars and ran the fastest laps and did all the things that make you feel like you can go win.”

Keselowski has never scored a top 10 at Nashville in four Cup Series starts at the track, but heads to his home state, Michigan, next week, where he has 15 top-10 finishes in 27 starts, including three runner-up finishes. He’s finished top 10 in three of the last four races there.

“Last year, I don’t think we had as much pace but were getting good finishes,” he added. “We have more potential now, but didn’t have the execution we had last year. I’m just eager to get the execution to match the potential.”

Posted on by Holly Cain

Ranked in fourth place in the NASCAR Cup Series standings, Chase Elliott has certainly established himself best among those drivers without a win. But for the driver of the No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet, that is not enough.

He’s ranked fourth in the championship standings — two of his Hendrick teammates, William Byron and Kyle Larson, lead the rankings. Consistency has certainly been key to Elliott’s season with seven top 10 and three top-five finishes through the opening 13 races. His best effort has been fourth place — at both COTA and Martinsville.

RELATED: Nashville schedule | Best photos from Music City

He has been particularly good at this week’s Nashville concrete 1.33-miler, winning the race in 2022 and scoring a fourth-place finish there in 2023. Looking ahead to next week at Michigan, Elliott has an impressive 10 top-10 finishes — including three runner-up efforts — in 14 starts.

“I thought we had a really good car last week at Charlotte,” Elliott said. “I think it’s a product of a lot of hard work and just a collective effort of trying to make some improvement. That’s always the goal, just keep chipping away. I think the team is in a really good spot.’’

Elliott knows he’s in a good place points standings-wise, but the 2020 Cup Series champion and perennial most popular driver isn’t satisfied with “pointing” his way into a title run. His last victory came over a year ago at Texas Motor Speedway.

“Certainly better to be in that position than on the other side of the fence, no doubt,” Elliott said of his points position. “But I’d be lying if I said that was my top focus. It’s just not. I think that if you’re worried about barely getting into the playoffs, I think you have some work to do.

“It really is kind of the best way I can think about that. And just to talk about my thought process, I want to be better than that. I want to be in the group of people of how many playoff points do you have, not just barely getting in. Our expectations and goals are above that, and we hope that we can achieve all of our goals.”

Posted on by Dustin Albino

LEBANON, Tenn. – Denny Hamlin hopes to add his name to the record book Sunday evening at Nashville Superspeedway by becoming the 22nd driver in NASCAR history to reach 700 career Cup Series starts. There’s a real possibility, however, that he misses his first NASCAR Cup Series race since 2014.

Hamlin’s longtime partner Jordan Fish is expecting to give birth to the couple’s third child – their first boy – at any moment. Her due date is June 1, the same date as Sunday’s Cracker Barrel 400 at Nashville.

MORE: See results for Nashville | At-track photos

The No. 11 team planned for Hamlin to get through practice and qualifying on Saturday with driver Ryan Truex on standby. The New Jersey native hasn’t started a race at the Cup level since a 23-race stint in 2014. He has just a single national series start this year, finishing 17th with Sam Hunt Racing at Daytona International Speedway.

“Oh yeah,” Hamlin said on if it’s a real possibility that he misses the Nashville race. “[Fish is] due tomorrow. I can’t miss it. I’ve got to be there for her, and that’s the biggest priority. I just wish she could hang on a little bit longer.

“I didn’t put a time on it. I think that there’s probably an eight-hour window that I don’t think it would be possible for me to do both.”

Hamlin isn’t intending to make the trip back to North Carolina following practice and qualifying and will remain in Nashville on Saturday evening.

The two-time 2025 winner put it simply that, should he get the call, he’s gone. Truex was fitted into the No. 11 Toyota, as the two drivers are similar in stature.

In four starts at Nashville, Hamlin has a pair of top 10 finishes with an average finish of 10.5. The No. 11 car has led at least 70 laps in the last three races. He’s aiming to be the first driver to win in their 700th start.

“It feels good to still be as competitive as I was in start one,” he added. “That’s what I’m most grateful in all of this is, 700 starts later, I can still go out and win this weekend.”

Truex has just one national series start at Nashville, finishing 16th in an Xfinity Series race with Michael Waltrip Racing in 2011.

Posted on by Staff Report

See where your favorite NASCAR Cup Series driver will pit for the Cracker Barrel 400 at Nashville Superspeedway on Sunday (7 p.m. ET, Prime Video, PRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

See where your favorite NASCAR Xfinity Series driver will pit for the Tennessee Lottery 250 at Nashville Superspeedway on Saturday (7:30 p.m. ET, The CW, PRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

xfinity nashville pit stalls

RELATED: Nashville weekend hub: Links, results, more

See where your favorite NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series driver will pit for the Rackley Roofing 200 at Nashville Superspeedway on Friday (8 p.m. ET, FS1, NRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

View of pit stalls.

Posted on by Dustin Albino

LEBANON, Tenn. — Front Row Motorsports unloaded its newest cutting-edge race truck on Friday at Nashville Superspeedway for Layne Riggs. It was all going according to plan. 

Cording a tire in practice resulted in only six timed laps on the race track. Still, Riggs started third for the Craftsman Truck Series’ Rackley 200 and was an immediate threat.

By Lap 19, Riggs was challenging series’ wins leader and regular-season championship headman Corey Heim for the lead. After passing the No. 11 Toyota, Riggs tallied his third career stage victory — all coming in the first 12 races of 2025.

RELATED: Race results | At-track photos: Nashville

The first miscue on pit road came at the Stage 1 break, as Riggs lost multiple positions. He was able to scurry up to a runner-up finish in Stage 2 to Heim. 

But the final dagger occurred during the No. 34 team’s final pit stop, with front tire changer Blake Hickman getting caught up while changing the right-front tire. Riggs plummeted to eighth in the running order while Rajah Caruth’s No. 71 team got him out in clean air for the start of the final stage. 

With the laps dwindling away, Heim made a final charge on Caruth for the race lead. That allowed Riggs to gain quickly, though he couldn’t pass the No. 11 truck for second position. The No. 34 Ford took the checkered flag in third, capping off a three-week stretch of consecutive top-five finishes. 

“This one is probably one of the biggest stingers so far,” Riggs said after the checkered flag. “It’s probably the most dominant car I’ve had and not won the race. The last time I felt like that was at Bristol (last year) and we did win.

“It just stings when it feels like I did everything flawlessly on the race track and we just gave it away on pit road. We just have to be better on pit road. These races, especially here in the trucks, it’s so line dominant and clean air means so much. My balance would change tremendously with each [truck] I passed to get to the front. You have to get single-filed out to start making passes and at that point you lose so much track position.” 

The same issue for the No. 34 crew occurred at the conclusion of Stage 1 to begin the month of May at Texas Motor Speedway. After pitting from the lead during the opening stage, he recounts dropping to 25th in the running order. 

Riggs put it simply, the No. 34 team must improve. 

“Just practice more. Get better reps and be smarter,” Riggs suggested of how the No. 34 team can hone in on the issue. “When we get down to these end-of-the-race situations and come in leading, [we] cannot let the pressure get to us.”

It wasn’t all bad for Riggs. Rounding out the podium, he’s now 11 points behind fourth in the regular season standings and picked up a playoff point.

Posted on by Reid Spencer

LEBANON, Tenn. — In the closing laps of Friday night’s NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race at Nashville Superspeedway, Rajah Caruth had a question for himself.

“How bad do you want it?” Caruth thought silently, as four-time winner Corey Heim and Layne Riggs pursued him relentlessly over the final circuits.

Caruth answered his own question by driving flawlessly over the final 15 laps of the Rackley Roofing 200, crossing the finish line 0.518 seconds ahead of Heim in second and 0.629 seconds ahead of Riggs in third.

The victory was Caruth’s first at Nashville, his first of the season and second of his career, which vaulted him into the Craftsman Truck Series Playoffs.

RELATED: Race results | At-track photos: Nashville

After Heim won the second stage — his ninth stage win of the season — a quick pit stop under caution during the stage break gave Caruth the lead on Lap 100, and he held it the rest of the way to claim the coveted guitar trophy that goes to Nashville race winners.

Driving the No. 71 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet, Caruth led twice for 61 of 150 laps, including the last 51.

“I didn’t expect that at all — those guys were breathing down my neck the whole run,” Caruth said of Heim and Riggs. “My pit crew won that race. They won the race for us, got us off pit road twice.

“We’ve been off this year, but it was good to get it done tonight. That was a lot of fun. I asked myself, ‘How bad do you want it?’ I just tried my best, and we had clean air. Their stuff was better, but I just did my best. That was it.”

Heim agreed that losing the lead on the final pit stop was critical.

“With the third stage being so straightforward — lack of strategy, going green there — it was tough to come back from not having the lead. But I slid through my (pit) box during the last stop and didn’t do my guys any favors… just something to reflect on my end.

“But huge congrats to Rajah. He did an awesome job managing from the lead. I was really free behind him, and he made pretty much the right choice every time as far as where I was going to go.”

WATCH: ‘Nice racing against people who aren’t gonna wreck you for the lead’

Riggs, who won the first stage, got to Heim’s bumper twice in the battle for second but couldn’t claim the runner-up spot.

“I’ll tell you, I had the best seat in the house there at the end of that race,” said Riggs, who fell from second to eighth off pit road during the second stage break because of trouble removing his right front tire. “They were doing some racing right there in front of me.

“I hoped to be right there in the mix. I just didn’t have enough time.”

Daniel Hemric came home fourth, followed by Corey Day, a dirt-track phenom who posted his first top five in his tenth career start in Truck Series competition.

Heim widened his series lead to 122 points over second-place Hemric entering next Saturday’s DQS Solutions & Staffing 250 at Michigan International Speedway on June 7 (Noon ET, FOX, NRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

NOTE: Post-race inspection was completed without issue in the Craftsman Truck Series garage, confirming Rajah Caruth as the winner.

Posted on by Staff Report

SEEKONK, Mass. — Due to forecasted inclement weather, Seekonk Speedway and NASCAR officials announced today that the J&R Precast 150 & NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series divisions will now race on Sunday, June 1 at 3 p.m.

The event will begin with NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour qualifying at 2:30 p.m., followed by qualifying heats for the Seekonk Late Models, Helger’s Sportsman and Sport Trucks.

The NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour will hit the track for their feature hit promptly at 4:10 p.m. Following the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour J&R Precast 150, Seekonk’s Sport Trucks (25 laps), Late Models (45 laps, Everett’s Triple Crown round one) and Helger’s Sportsman (25 laps) will all compete in their feature events.

Tickets for the show are available online at SeekonkSpeedway.com. Fans are encouraged to purchase ahead to avoid lines on race day and save money.

“We feel this was the best decision for this event, and it looks to be a picture perfect Sunday coming up for short-track racing as we continue our 80th season,” David Alburn, General Manager at Seekonk Speedway, said. “We look forward to seeing the fans for a matinee special with NASCAR’s oldest touring series – the ground pounding Whelen Modified Tour – and three of our NASCAR weekly divisions for a great day of Sunday racing action.”

Grandstands on Sunday will open at 1:30 p.m. for advance ticket holders and 2 p.m. for day of ticket sales.

In the pit area, the NASCAR garage opens at 9:45 a.m., while NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series haulers will enter at 11 a.m. The practice rounds for the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour will run from 12-1 p.m., followed by weekly division practice at 1:05 p.m. NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour qualifying begins at 2:30 p.m. and heat races at 3 p.m.

For more information on Seekonk Speedway, visit SeekonkSpeedway.com and follow the track on social media for the latest news and updates.

Posted on by Cameron Richardson

“I wanted to race cars badly. Just as badly, I think, as my dad.”

Episode 3 of the four-part ‘Earnhardt’ docuseries on Prime Video explores Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s start in racing and the challenges of earning his father’s attention in the early portion of his career.

With racing constantly on his mind growing up, Earnhardt Jr. said he drew race cars often in school. However, his father and stepmother Teresa interpreted it as a different passion for Dale Jr.

“Dad and Teresa came home one day with a giant box of all these supplies, and they said, ‘We thought maybe you’d want to go to art school. We were looking at this college down the road,’ Earnhardt Jr. said. “I was like, ‘are you freaking out of your mind? I’m not going to art school.’ What? Like, I’m not an art student. I’m not into art. I was so spun out. And I was like, ‘damn it, you’re Dale Earnhardt, and I want to race.’ Help me race. What should I do in this moment to be getting closer to racing? Take all this art [expletive] out of here.”

RELATED: Watch all four episodes of ‘Earnhardt’ on Prime Video

As Earnhardt Jr. began racing late models locally, his father remained absent from the track with his son.

Dale Sr.’s friend, Hank Parker, revealed that Earnhardt said he didn’t believe his son was cut out for racing.

“I was worried about Dale Jr. and he was green as grass,” Parker said. “Didn’t know a whole lot about racing. Dale Sr. told me one time. He said, ‘I don’t think that boy will ever be a race driver. He just ain’t got it.'”

Earnhardt Jr.: “If dad was sitting right here, one thing I’d want to ask him, did he ever see me race my late model car? I ran 159 races. I never saw him. He never said, ‘Hey, I’m coming to your race this weekend.’ He’s never around the trailer. Never around the car. I don’t know if he saw me.”

As Dale Jr. made his way to the Xfinity Series, formerly known as the Busch Grand National Series, he had a rough few outings in his first starts.

After wrecking out in a race, Dale Jr. recalls an important moment in his relationship with his dad that stuck with him.

“The door flies open on this double-wide trailer I lived in. Boom, boom. I know immediately those are dad’s footsteps,” Earnhardt Jr. said. “He looks over at my buddies that are sitting over there, and he goes, ‘get the [expletive] off my property. [They] ran out of the house and jumped in the cars and they drove out the driveway. The shoes are still sitting in the floor.

“He said, ‘Come here.’ And we walked out. I thought he was gonna whoop my ass. And he goes, ‘Man, what are you doing?’ I was like, ‘I thought my racing career is over.’ He’s like, ‘no, they’re gonna fix that car. That’s where you should be. You should be wanting to fix your car. Where is that? Where is that inside of you? What’s missing in you that you thought to come over here and sit on your ass and feel sorry for yourself?’ That was the one father-son talk that we had that sunk in.”